Great Easter Egg Hunt, The

"A lively and irreverent send-up of small town Southern culture"- Theatre MontgomeryThis comedy centers around an Annual Easter Egg Hunt. Citizens vie for the ultimate prize attainable in Umatilla, Florida the Golden Egg. A comic journey through one day in an isolated town that reflects the
greed, cowardice, regret, avarice, love, stupidity, hope, passion and
drama of life in America.

FEATURES / CONTAINS

CAUTIONS

TAGS

TARGET AUDIENCE

Adult, Teen (Age 14 - 18)

PERFORMANCE GROUP

High School/Secondary, College Theatre / Student, Community Theatre, Dinner Theatre

RECOGNITION / AWARDS

Delauney Playwriting Award

This comedy centers around an Annual Easter Egg Hunt. Citizens vie for the ultimate prize attainable in Umatilla, Florida the Golden Egg. Meanwhile Horseshoe and Clem Dumpling seek to avenge their shattered hopes of married bliss, the town flirt chases every man except for the one who is in love with her and two young lovers struggle to escape this small town. Judge Pulander officiates, but is soon overwhelmed by apple and cypress bark cider. The Rifle Association initiates a blood feud while the Women's Club fans the fire with gossip. The Great Easter Egg Hunt is a comic journey through one day in an isolated town that reflects the greed, cowardice, regret, avarice, love, stupidity, hope, passion and drama of life in America.

"Thursday night's sold-out crowd was treated to a raucous two hours of Ken Jones's The Great Easter Egg Hunt, a lively and irreverent send-up of small town Southern culture, as the zany residents of Umatilla, Florida continuously sabotage one another in their quest for a golden egg and the promise of prizes and the right to reign as king or queen over the town for the next year."- Theatre Montgomery

1990, Hasty Pudding Theatre (showcase), American Repertory Theatre.

Characters

CASTING

9m, 6f

CASTING ATTRIBUTES

Ensemble cast, Non-Traditional casting, Features Teens, Flexible casting, Strong Role for Leading Man (Star Vehicle), Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle)

JUDGE BUDFORD PULANDER - judge of the Umatilla
Circuit Court; a fair and honest judge, unless he's been drinking HELEN NEELEY - the town gossip, president of the
Umatilla P.T.A.FAYE RUMPLE - Helen Neeley's faithful sidekick;
spends most of her time shuttling any one of her fifteen
children to various locations WILL FEREBEE - an intelligent young man; offered a full scholarship to
Harvard University PERRY MONROE - an attractive, smart young woman, whose goal in life is to leave Umatilla; has been dating Will since their freshman year of high school CLEM DUMPLING - a man who was raised by cows; a
graduate of the third grade; has made his living by
creating pine cone sculptures, which he sells at the local
Alligator Farm and Reptile House HORSESHOE DUMPLING - second only to his brother in
ignorance; said to be the philosopher of the
family HORVANA DWIGHT - the town flirt; a graduate of the
Mount Dora Beauty and Charm School; a hardworking,
career oriented business woman JED PERRINE - a very large, but sensitive man; said
to have the "magic touch" when it comes to farming; has been romantically involved with Horvana and as such, very much the subject of town gossipm LORETTA PIKEWATER - a woman who enjoys worrying;
a former Miss Grapefruit, now happily married
with one child, Ratius, who has been
diagnosed as a hyperactive child LAMBIE MONROE - a kind and caring woman; a widow and graduate of Orange County
Community College, now a
nurse's aide and Umatilla's first volunteer
firewoman; Perry's mother MR. WAXLEY - president of the Umatilla Rifle
Association; a tractor mechanic and the father of five boys;
is not on speaking terms with two of the five MR. PARNELL - vice-president of the Umatilla Rifle
Association; owns and runs Parnell's
Meats and Seafood MR. GILBERT - Parnell's faithful sidekick;
supervises the municipal public pool during the summer
months, and operates an adult bookstore
one mile north of the Umatilla city line during the winter TOMANE WAXLEY - third son of Mr. Waxley;
artistically gifted but denied access to drawing and painting materials by his father